Metallic fencepost



C. HOLSINGER.

METALLIC FENCEPOST.

APPLICATIQN HLED JULY l2, 1919.

1,407,540, Patented Feb. 21, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l).

c. HOLSINGER.

METALLIC FENCEPOST. PPLICATION FILED JULY l2, 1919.

' 1,407,540, Patented Feb. 21, 1922.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

arriere.

METALLIC ranonros'r.

Spcification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 21, 1922.

g Application led July 12, 1919. Serial No. 310,295.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES HoLsINGEn, citizen of the United States, residing at Kendallville,.in the county of Noble and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements Metallic Fenceposts, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved fencepost and has as one of its principal objects to provide a metallic post which may be economically produced and which will be adapted for general use .in building fences.

The invention has as a further object to provide a fencepost equipped with anchoring means of such nature that, in use, the post will be rigidly supported in the ground, thus minimizing the tendency of a fence ca rried by a` line of the posts to sag.

A further object of the invention is to provide a post which, with its anchoring means, maybe readily driven into the ground.

And the invention has as a still further object to provide a metallic post which may be readilyv employed in lieu of ordinary wooden fenceposts and will thus fulfil a particular need in any localityv where wooden posts are not available.

Other and incidental objects will appear hereinafter. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a section of fence employing posts of the type of the present invention,

Figure 2. is. a front elevation showing the post in detail,

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the manner in which the post is' sharpened at its lower end so that the post may be readily driven into the ground,

Figure 5 is a front elevation on an enlargedscale, this View showing a modification of the invention, and

Figure 6 is a rear perspective view of the modified form of post. p

In forming my improved post, I employ a face plate 10 having a flat front face and which is somewhat Ata ered in thickness toward its side edges. Xtending at right angles from the face plate at its rear side is a medial reinforcing plate 11 integral with theface plate, the post thus being substantially T-shaped in cross section. The

reinforcing plate 11 is co-eXtensive with the length of the face plate and like the' face plate is somewhat tapered in thickness toward its outer side edge. Formed in the side flanges of the face plate or those portions of the plate lying at opposite sides of the plane of the reinforcing plate 11, is a plurality of vertically spaced openings l2 arranged adjacent the outer edges of said fianges. As particularly brought out in Figure 2, the openings in one flange are staggered with respect to those in the other. Adjacent the lowerend of the face plate the side flanges thereof are, as particularly shown in Figure Ll, cut away to provide beveled edges 13 converging to the plane of the lower end of the reinforcing plate 11 while the reinforcing plate is, in turn, provided adjacent its lower end with beveled side faces 1/1. The post is thus provided at its lower end with a pointed or piercing terminal. ARiveted or otherwise secured to the base portion of the post is a transversely disposed anchoring plate 15 lying fiat against` the outer face of the plate 10 and extending at substantially right angles thereto.

As will now be readily understood in view of the preceding description, the post with its anchoring plate 15 may, as shown in Figure 2, be driven into the ground and, in use,

the base portion of the post will be sunk a distance sufficient to well embed the anchoring plate.V Itis to be noted that the anchoring .plate is flat on both sides throughout Aits area so that there are no laterally projecting portions to resist the downward progress of the anchoring plate into the earth and inasmuch as the plate is thin so as to avoid unnecessary weight and cost it will make such -a narrow fissure in the ground that the opposing walls of the fissure Will readily close over the plate as it is driven downward. The plate will thus be firmly anchored in the ground without undue disturbance of the soil. Thus, the anchoring plate not only serves to retard withdrawal of the post but will also brace the post laterally. In Figure 1, I have shown a pair of the improved posts in connection with a section of. fence. As illustrated in this figure, woven wire 16 may first be secured to the posts so as to closely approach the ground when spaced top strands 17 of barbed wire may then be secured to the upper end portions of the posts above the woven wire. A particularly efficient fence is thus provided and, as will be observed, the posts are arranged so that the woven wire and barbed wire will lie against the outer faces ofthe face plates 10 of the posts. Conl sequently, tie wires 18 may be readily in'- serted through the openings 12 in the posts for rigidly securing the fence wires in position thereon.

In Figures and 6 of the drawings, I have I illustrated a slight modification of the invention. In this modification the face |plate of the post is indicatedat 10 and the reinforcing plate at 11, theseelements being similar to corresponding elements of the preferred construction. Also as in the pre` ferred construction, the base portlon of thel post of this modification-is provided with a transverse anchoring plate 15 corresponding to the anchoring plate 15. Riveted or otherwise secured to the post at a point above tially parallel relation to the main anchoring plate. As willbe observed, the plate 19 -is lso disposed with respect to the main anl choring plate that when the post is embedded in the ground, the plate 19 wlll be spaced above the ground surface. Formed in the end portions of said plate at its upper edge l are outwardly inclined notches 2O and detachably engaged in these notches are the loops formed upon the upper sections of tie rods 21. The lower sections lof said rods are suitably engaged with anchoring stakes 22 driven into the ground at points spaced upon opposite sides of-the post and preferably lying in the plane of the plate 19. The anchoring stakes may be of any approved character and should, as shown in the drawings, be inclined away from the post. Ad

justably connecting the confronting ends of the upper and lower sections of thetie rods respectively are turn buckles 23. Thus, after the post has been set and the stakes 22 have been driven into the ground,'the tie rods may be arranged in position extending between the plate 19 and the stakes when by properly adjusting the turn buckles 23 the tie rods may betensioned. As will be seen, these tie rods will serve a two-fold function in that they will not only act in conjunction with the main, anchoring plate 15 for preventing lifting of the post by fence wires connected thereto but will also brace the upper exposed portion of the post against lateral movement and Strain in the plane of the fence wires. Dwing to the uneven contour of the ground it very often happens that one or more posts are located in a hollow. Consequently, when the fence wires are stretched, the tension upon the fence wires will tendto lift the posts' in the hollow and will also exert a side strain upon such posts in the direction of the fence line. As will be seen, this modified construction provides-an arrangement whereby, under the conditions indicated, the postswill be effectively secured to resist the tension of the fence line thereon. It will, of-course, be readily noted that the downwardly and outwardly inclined disposition 0f the notches will cause the outer walls ythereof to slightly overhang the ends of the tie rods so that they will not be apt to be dislodged in the event that the tension thereof should be reduced through accident or some slight yielding of the anchoring stakes. Moreover, the notches permit the tie rods to be readily engaged in the anchoring plate without any necessity for threading or worming the ends -of the rods through the plates. To engage they rods with the anchoring plate, it is necessary merely to slip the end-of therod over the upperl outer corner of the anchoring plate and bring the end of the rod into the notch.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

The combination of a fencepost comprising a body T-shaped in cross section with the head of theT parallel with the line of the fence, means for securing fence wires thereto, a flat anchoring member set on edge and secured against the head of the T-shafped body with its ends projecting beyond the edges of said head, a supplemental anchoring member secured against the head of the T-shaped body above the first-mentioned anchoring member and provided with outwardly and downwardly inclined notches in its upper edge near its ends, anchoring stakes set at opposite sides of the body, said stakes and the supplemental anchoring member being in a plane parallel with the face of the T- shaped body, tie rods engaged at their upper ends in the notchesin the supplemental anchoring member and at their lower ends around the heads-of the anchoring stakes, and tension devices .interposed in said tie rods intermediate the ends thereof.

In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

CHARLES HoLsINGER. [L s] 

